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Ruiz responds to councilor

The city manager admits an error in planning for a new City Hall but denies that he tried to “hoodwink” anyone

By Christian Hill

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Thursday, May 12, 2016, page B1

Jon Ruiz

Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz has admitted his move last year to upgrade the design of the new City Hall, knowing the proposed building would exceed the project’s authorized budget but without first checking with the City Council, “was not a good decision.”

He denies, however, any attempt to “hoodwink” the elected body that has budget authority over the project.

Ruiz made his comments in an email to Councilor George Brown, in response to an opinon piece by Brown in Sunday’s Register-Guard. In the piece, Brown, who is not seeking re-election, criticized Ruiz for last year making a “secret, unilateral decision to explode the budget.”

Brown also faulted his council colleagues for passively accepting a construction project he recently described as a financial “train wreck coming down the tracks.”

He called on the council to halt design work on the new City Hall, pay off remaining bills and look at more cost-effective ways to house city leaders and their staff.

City staff told the council last month the estimated cost of the project has increased to nearly $25 million, more than $7 million over the council-authorized budget. Councilors haven’t yet decided whether to approve a budget increase, which is required before construction on the more expensive building can start.

Ruiz said he was “disheartened” by Brown’s piece. “The City Hall process has not gone as hoped for, and I accept responsibility for my part in this process, including not keeping the council consistently up-to-date as possible changes in scope and budget arose,” he wrote.

Ruiz told councilors during an April 27 work session that he made the decision to upgrade the design about a year ago because the initial design that had been prepared and was within the authorized $17.85 million budget didn’t meet “the values that the council had identified for the project.”

Pressed by Brown at a recent council meeting about why he didn’t tell councilors of his decision, Ruiz responded, “There was no particular reason.”

Ruiz elaborated in his email to Brown, saying his intent was to provide councilors with complete information about a “design option that more fully met your adopted values, rather than continually involve you in the iterative process.”

The public presentation earlier in April, during which city staff disclosed the higher cost estimate, was the first to the council on the proposed new City Hall since July. At July’s meeting, the design team unveiled a rendering that showed the final schematic look of the redesigned building. Neither the design team nor city councilors brought up the estimated cost of the project at that time.

The 30,000-square-foot building would include the City Council chambers, work and meeting space for the elected body, the city manager and his staff, as well as a public plaza and parking.

City officials have cited their “overly optimistic” cost estimates early in the project, construction-cost inflation and design upgrades directed by Ruiz — including a seismic upgrade that councilors later nixed — as reasons for the rising price tag. Aside from the now-scrapped seismic upgrade, it’s unclear what other upgrades Ruiz added to the initial design.

The council is expected to decide this summer whether to authorize a budget increase so construction on the four-story building can begin later this year.

While the city hasn’t spent any money to construct the building, the costs to demolish the old City Hall and design the new building that will take its place on a portion of the vacant block have far exceeded initial estimates.

Estimates for demolition and site preparation costs as well as architectural and engineering fees have doubled to $2 million and more than $4.3 million, respectively, from the original estimate, according to a cost breakdown provided to councilors at Brown’s request.

The estimated cost to construct the four-story building on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Pearl Street now is more than $18.8 million, compared with the original estimate of about $11.5 million, the breakdown shows.

The city has said as of March 1 it had spent about $4.7 million on the overall project.

Officials respond

Ruiz acknowledged in his email response to Brown that his directive to redesign the building without council consent “was not a good decision, and I offered no excuses to try to justify my decision.”

“Although the process has been faulty, there has not been a conspiracy, nor secret intent, nor an attempt to ‘hoodwink’ the council,” he said in his email to Brown. “Suggesting otherwise is unwarranted, unfounded and unbelievable, and also disrespects the independence, judgment and discernment of the other council members,” he continued. “I also believe that it is not in your natural character to unjustly ascribe motives or question integrity.”

Responding to Ruiz, Piercy said in an email, “I too feel sad the opinion piece is in the RG and cannot see how it advances anything but distrust and bad feelings for the city, staff, council and the community.

“Of course, we are all entitled to our freedom of speech and to use this freedom as we see fit.”

In an email Friday to Councilors Greg Evans and Alan Zelenka, the mayor alerted them to Brown’s coming opinion piece, saying it will “only contribute more fuel to criticism of council and the city as a whole.” Piercy appears to suggest the controversy might divert attention from other pressing issues.

“It’s my hope that you will join me in trying to keep us all on path and treating each other in a respectful manner,” she said. “We are in the midst of some significant issues that are not going to let up and will need our full attention to do the best job possible for our city. ... This is not a new conversation (about City Hall), but a continuance of this effort that has been underway through several mayors and many councilors.”

Brown stood his ground, denying in another email that he suggested in his opinion piece that Ruiz was attempting to hoodwink the council or that he was criticizing the judgment of the other councilors. “The manager’s decision to increase the project’s budget WAS ‘secret’ and ‘unilateral.’ Council WAS ‘kept in the dark’ for a year,” he said.

Brown concluded: “Frankly, I’m puzzled that adhering to the principles of ‘open and transparent government and fiscal responsibility’ is misinterpreted as advancing ‘distrust and bad feelings.’ ”

Public backlash

Some members of the public also are unhappy with Ruiz’s decision to design a costlier City Hall without council approval.

Eugene resident Gary Spizizen in an email to Ruiz and the council on Sunday characterized the project as a “giant boondoggle,” noting the city manager’s decision “to add on costs at will.”

“It also appears that certain City Council members are shamefully complicit,” he said. “This nonsense has to stop.”

At Monday night’s council meeting, Lonnie Douglas, a board member of the Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network, blasted the city for its refusal to spend any “serious money” to reduce homelessness or fairly pay the city’s temporary workers, while officials can find millions of additional dollars for the proposed new City Hall. He accused the council of giving Ruiz a “free pass when he blows $7 million of taxpayer money.”

Piercy responded that “there were some misconceptions they (the network) brought forward tonight.”

In an email to a Eugene resident last month, Piercy acknowledged that public communication about the project has been insufficient but denied that the project team made autonomous decisions without council support.

“Nobody has been misleading council nor assuming council approval when it has not been given,” she said. “I think we could fault ourselves for letting the team move forward with some options without an actual council vote. There was no disagreement, but affirmative votes are important in keeping an accurate record.”

Under questioning from Councilor Chris Pryor later during Monday’s council meeting, Ruiz said the city has not spent any money for construction of the new City Hall, and he denied holding any secret meetings with developers or contractors “with the promise of money, favor or benefits if (he) sent work their way.”

Ruiz said he and his staff will come back and present bidding information from construction subcontractors this summer and “then the council will have the choice on whether to proceed or not, and then at that point can authorize the dollars to move forward.”